Privacy Policy

University Advancement at Michigan State University strives to protect the privacy of students, alumni, donors and friends of the university.

This online privacy policy statement discloses University Advancement’s information gathering and dissemination practices for our website including both the Alumni Association and the development office: advancement.msu.edu. This statement outlines the information we may collect, how we protect it, how we may use that information and how you may elect to change your information. Please note that this privacy statement does not apply to any other website maintained by, or associated with, Michigan State University.

COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

While using our public web pages you do not have to identify yourself or divulge personal information. We may collect general information from you that does not identify you personally—this may include data such as your domain name, the name of the web page from which you entered our site and which of our web pages you visited and for how long. We aggregate this information to help us better focus on the needs and interests of our visitors and to improve the overall functionality of our website.

As you use our website we will not collect any personal information including your name, street address, email address or telephone number, unless you provide the information to us voluntarily.

If you make an online gift or register online for an event using your credit card information, we enter this information into our secure database so that we have a record of your gift history and so that we may issue you a receipt. Your gift or registration is processed electronically by a secure credit card processing service.

Third Party Tracking Technology

This site uses a tracking technology called Google Analytics and Mouseflow to obtain site usage information such as users’ Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, Internet domain and host names, browser software, and the date and time that the site is visited. Data obtained through Google Analytics does not include and is not linked to any personal information. Data from Google Analytics and Mouseflow allows us to monitor the use of this site, understand how users find our site, and improve the site’s function and content.

Site usage data collected through Google Analytics is not shared with other Google products and tools. Our use of Google Analytics is in compliance with Google’s Terms of Service and the MSU Access to Student Information guidelines. Google provides more information about Google’s privacy practices and information on how to opt-out of Google Analytics tracking of your web browsing.

You may also wish to review the MSU Access to Student Information guidelines.

This site uses Google Custom Search.

COOKIES

When you view our website we may store some information on your computer in the form of a cookie. Cookies allow us to tailor our website to better match your interests and preferences. Usage of a cookie is not linked to any of your personally identifiable information while on our site. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you may be able to modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies you may not be able to fully experience all of the features and content of our website.

USE AND SHARING OF INFORMATION

University Advancement is committed to ensuring your privacy. However, University Advancement may release personal information if required to do so by law, university policy or contractual obligation.

When you do provide us with personal data, we may use that information in the following ways: to provide you with Michigan State University news and events, including such things as upcoming reunions, newsletters, fundraising events, donor recognition and progress on fundraising campaigns; to process credit card information to properly bill your account (when applicable); and to contact you for purposes connected to Michigan State University or our relationship with you.

University Advancement may use or disclose information that identifies a specific user in response to a user’s request for, or use of, services provided through the MSU Alumni Association or the development office. As part of those services University Advancement may provide the opportunity for users to select specific areas of interest in order to receive news and marketing materials related to those interests. Users are given an opportunity to opt-out of mailings.

YOUR CONSENT TO THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT

By using our website you signify that you agree with the terms of our current privacy statement. If you do not agree with any term in this statement please do not provide any personal information on this site. If you do not provide personal information on this site you may not be able to do certain things such as access particular areas of the site, request certain types of information, or send us an email.

ACCESS TO YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

You may review, update and correct the personal information you provided to University Advancement through its website by contacting us at univdev@msu.edu or by calling us at: (517) 884-1000 or (800) 232-4678 toll free.

You may also write to us at: Gift and Member Services University Advancement Spartan Way 535 Chestnut Road, Room 300 East Lansing, MI 48824

OUR COMMITMENT TO SECURITY

We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of the information under our control. Safeguards include restricted access to computer systems and paper files, firewalls, encryption and secure authentication methods.

For example, when our online giving form asks you to enter personally identifiable information for online transactions, your information is protected using Secure Sockets Layer protocol (SSL encryption). Any information you supply is encrypted when you send it from your browser to MSU University Advancement’s sever. To learn more about SSL encryption, please visit the Comodo Group.

Access to any personal information you chose to disclose to University Advancement through its website is restricted in our offices. Only employees who have a legitimate university business reasons to use personally identifiable information are granted access to it. If you are uncomfortable sharing your personal data on the Internet please contact us at the address, email or telephone number noted above.

CHANGES TO THIS STATEMENT

We may occasionally decide to change our privacy statement especially as new features are added to our website. If there are changes to this statement, we will post those changes here so you are aware of what information we collect and how we use it.

HOW TO CONTACT US

If you have any other questions or concerns about this privacy statement, please call us at (517) 884-1000 or (800) 232-4678 toll free or send us an e-mail at univdev@msu.edu